Vagabond
by Shades 0f Dawn
Summary: By the 26th Century, humanity has spread across space. However, Earth is deteriorating. Madoka is forced to flee during a war with a message to find a girl named Tomoe Mami. At the same time, Mami and her friends Homura and Kyouko discover a strange secret, but their investigation could be far more dangerous than they ever imagined. (HomuMado/Sci-Fi AU/Response to Foxtrot0220)
1. Chapter 1: The Call

**VAGABOND**

**Chapter 1: The Call**

**A/N: **Foxtrot0220, does the title and premise seem familiar to you? It's about time I pay you back for the whole Lemon and Maple/Maple and Lemon ridiculousness from a few months back. ;)

There's some _'Halo'_ elements in here, but it's more just Sci-Fi than anything. I'm not the most knowledgeable about Halo canon, so there's bound to be inconsistencies (and bits where I've added extra information). Hopefully it doesn't detract too much from the main story.

* * *

The United Nations Space Command.

Like all children on Earth, Madoka had seen the United Nations Space Port before. One midsummer night many years ago, in the enchantingly calm twilight air, her mother and father had helped her climb up to the roof of their small city house. Their warm and steady hands supported Madoka as she looked past the towering skyscrapers and gazed out into the deep and dark depths of outer space. There, above the foul city smog of the planet she'd grown up in and loved, her parents pointed to the stars. In the black canvas of the night sky, most of them glimmered as faint white specks like distant city lights. A few were human colonies, and reflected a greenish tinge with the introduction of plant life. But one of the lights shone such an unusually bright silver that even without a telescope, it was easy to tell that it couldn't have been a star or a planet.

Madoka was instantly spellbound, unable to tear her gaze away. With the evening breeze at her back, she stretched out her arms and hands as if she could touch the distant lights. To mirror her awe, the stars sparkled like glittering fireflies on her face, shining on her eyes full of childish wonder and slightly parted lips.

"Madoka, what do you see?" Her mother had asked, smiling endearingly at Madoka's amazement.

"The future," A young Madoka had breathlessly whispered.

It was afterwards that she learned about the bright and silver UNSC space port, an incredible human feat the size of a large city, accomplished and finished over the span of a century. Over the years, Madoka grew up hearing the stories about the gigantic port, tales told of massive spaceships cruising through glittering futuristic skylines, impossibly vast and unexplored galaxies nearby, the largest intergalactic trading center and populace, and all the natural resources and clean air you could ever want. For eager ears, there were always whispers in the city of the great things people had seen and experienced, free from the dust of the dying planet of Earth where everyone else, including Madoka, was stuck. Afterwards, Madoka would lie in bed and stare at the ceiling for hours, imagining herself to be a Spartan pilot flying through the colorful voids of nebulas and over rocky terrains of foreign planets.

Madoka had spent many nights thereafter with her window propped open, despite the brisk evening chill, nestling her chin on crossed arms while she stared out into the night sky. She stayed awake long after her bedtime, unbeknownst to her parents, wishing upon countless shooting stars for the chance to one day reach that silver light and the ephemeral horizon of space. As the streaks of light darted across the sky, she would raise a finger and try to trace them until they disappeared beyond her view. As much as she dearly loved her home and family, the adventurous call inside of Madoka made her long to venture out into the vast abyss of space.

But as time quickly passed, she had grown up like all other children eventually must. She had forgotten the call of space and turned her mind to more important things at hand, like studying for school, making friends, and preparing for the everyday life ahead of her. Even the mandatory astronomy classes in school failed to interest her. The mundane days slipped away as elementary school passed into middle school, which soon became high school. Madoka traded the time spent dreaming while looking up into the night sky for hours dutifully and tirelessly poring over exam books. Her future didn't lie among the stars. It was just a childish dream. At least, that was what she had thought, until the war had broken out...

"We will be docking at UNSC gateway seven in five minutes! All passengers, report immediately to the departure gate at the security checkpoint! ODST units head to the main hangar for briefing! I repeat, we're landing in five minutes! Get your gear and get moving!"

As if the screeching intercom announcement wasn't enough to rouse her, Madoka awoke to the sound of knuckles rapping against the door to her cabin. Outside, she could hear the same sound and shouts echoing down the hallway as crew members frantically rushed to get the passengers off board as quickly as possible. She blinked at the low ceiling, quickly throwing aside her blanket and swinging her legs out from under her to sit up. Madoka took a moment to collect her thoughts, shaking her head to scatter her dreams and memories. The poor quality of light in the room made her wonder about the time. But out here in space, among the infinite sea of darkness and stars, there was hardly any concept of day and night anyways.

Madoka listened to the sound of passengers scrambling to get ready in the rooms adjacent to hers. She had already packed her belongings in a small rucksack which she kept close at hand, nervously fiddling with the straps. As the shouts outside grew louder, Madoka stood up and stretched, nervous but eager to get out of the small room and off of the transport spaceship into the galaxies beyond.

"We've got three minutes until docking! If you're not at the gate by then, you'll be stuck on the flight back to Earth! Let's go everyone!"

Outside of her cabin's small window, Madoka could catch a glimpse of the towering steel spire and large spinning rings of lights surrounding it that made up part of the UNSC security gateway to the colonies beyond. Before, Madoka had only seen pictures of it in books. But now looking at it up close, she couldn't suppress a shudder.

A week ago, she had been smuggled onto this transport spaceship during the night by her mother, with strict instructions not to talk to anyone until she was safe. Barely awake at the time, a bewildered Madoka hadn't understood what her mother was talking about. But as the days passed, everything soon became horrifyingly clear. Madoka could only catch glimpses of the news here and there from the old television in her cabin, but the day she left Earth, there had been an alien invasion by a fearsome group called the 'Covenant'.

The war that had once seemed so far away with Harvest and the Fall of Reach was now hitting home. Only people with V.I.P. clearance were allowed to evacuate Earth in the initial stages of the invasion. Madoka certainly wasn't one of them. If she was found out, there was no telling what they'd do to her. All Madoka could do now was hope that her family had safely escaped as well.

"One minute! This is the last warning!"

Heeding the advice of the intercom, Madoka threw on her hooded jacket. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone, running her fingers over the smooth exterior. It was an archaic device, especially now when everyone else used the commonplace holographic tablets. But it had been a gift from her school-friend Sayaka for a birthday years ago, along with a cute phone strap. Madoka had kept it ever since then. Before, it was somewhat of an inconvenience. Now, it was a blessing, since none of the current technology could track her whereabouts like they could with satellite data from the current holographic tablets. She was essentially off the radar.

Madoka turned on her phone and replayed the last message she had received over a week ago from her mother, listening intently to her instructions and finding some small comfort at the soothing voice:

_"Madoka, once you arrive at the space port, make your way into the Apollo District. There, you'll find a young woman by the name of 'Tomoe Mami'. She's somewhat of an old friend and probably the only one in the entire Sol system that'll help you. Please, stay safe at all costs. I love you."_

"I love you too, mom..." Madoka whispered back to her phone, knowing that her mother could be anywhere at this point. Blinking away a lonely tear, she pocketed the device as the ground shuddered to a halt underneath her feet. The spaceship had finally reached its destination and docked. As the frantic rapping sounds intensified at various doors nearby, Madoka shouldered her backpack and, out of habit, gave one last look into the small round mirror above her sink, gazing at her reflection. Her face was a bit grimy and her hair was pitifully messy after days of sleeping in a cramped and dusty bed with barely enough water to shower. Frowning, Madoka ran a hand through her hair, trying to mat it down into something that looked a little better and made her look less like someone running away from home...

It was too bad that she hadn't thought to dye her hair into a color less eye-catching than bright pink. Normally, she would have tied her hair into twin pigtails, but now she let it limply fall and brush against her shoulders. Combing it wasn't working. Reluctantly giving up with a sigh, Madoka settled upon pulling up the hood of her jacket instead, bowing her head low to avoid notice as she left the room. The dimly-lit corridor outside was a scrambling mess of passengers and crew members trying to help people with their luggage, culminating in a loud commotion. Taking advantage of the ensuing confusion, Madoka silently slipped through the gaps in the crowd, darting around and following the signs that pointed the way down to the UNSC space port checkpoint.

It was, as Madoka realized while hurrying along the winding hallways of the spaceship, her first time in space on a "planet" besides Earth. As she anxiously approached the departure gate, she watched as the large, stainless-steel ship doors slid open to reveal the United Nations Space Port. What she beheld completely took her breath away.

The space port looked just like a large metropolis, with skyscrapers rising high above the cityscape while small transport ships wound past buildings in organized traffic patterns. Larger cruisers circled overhead like birds of prey, while even larger flagships slowly rumbled through the artificial atmosphere like steel-plated whales. The spaceship Madoka was on had landed at the far end of the port, with dozens of other similar ships simultaneously landing on either side. In the distance, she could see several more landing strips with light-cruisers, frigate carriers, and cargo transports, some slowly gliding down to land while others rose up to take off from the shipyard like bees in a hive. For a moment, Madoka was young again, staring in awe at the distant yet bright silver light of the UNSC space port from Earth. Standing in place, she reached out one hand, gazing across the massive shipyard at all of the bustling activity that now seemed so close.

"This ain't a sightseeing tour, kid. Keep movin'."

Startled, Madoka jumped and hurried to step aside as an impossibly tall and heavily armored soldier with the faded letters 'ODST' painted across his shoulder impatiently brushed past, carrying what appeared to be a weapons crate. He looked like he knew where he was going, so she followed after him and the other disembarking passengers, trying to remain inconspicuous in the crowd. As Madoka stepped off the ramp and onto the solid station platform below, she gave one last glance back at the transport spaceship she'd been forced to call home for several days. She wouldn't miss it. Madoka took a deep breath and carried on.

The security checkpoint loomed ahead as other passengers congregated the area. Madoka held her breath as she neared the checkpoints at the other end of the shipyard, ignoring the sweat traveling down the nape of her neck. All she had to do was follow her mother's instructions, give her ID to the military police, and move on through just like the thousands of other passengers who did so every day. If everything went as planned, there was no need to worry.

Madoka drew her shoulders in the closer she got to the waiting line of security guards, falling into place and trying not to let anything show on her face to avoid the notice of other people. Two armored enforcers stepped forwards to greet Madoka once she reached the checkpoint. They were covered head to toe in black kevlar, with automatic rifles slung around their shoulders. Large visored helmets covered their eyes, rendering them faceless. One of them signaled for Madoka to step closer, and she obediently complied without hesitation. In a moment, the bright lights of the scanner were immediately shining in her face. Madoka tried not to squint or look away.

"Papers." With a gloved hand, one of the guards gestured for Madoka's ID.

Madoka's hands were shaking, yet she managed to produce them from her jacket pocket. The officer briefly scanned the papers, glancing up at Madoka's face to verify with the picture on the forms. It only took ten seconds, yet when the officer waved Madoka through, she couldn't help but let out a shuddering breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. She didn't let down her guard until she reached the steel walkway across the shipyard.

Madoka quickly walked away from the mass of other passengers, retreating into the first dark alleyway she could find to collect her thoughts, away from all the lights, noise, and anyone who might suspect that she didn't belong here. It had been nerve-wracking, but she had made it through undetected. Now, all she had to do was find this 'Tomoe Mami'. What happened after that was still up in the air.

The UNSC shipyard checkpoints all led to the center of the port towards the 'downtown' region. Like many big cities, there were a multitude of large hovering screens displayed on nearby buildings, all of them showing news of the Covenant attack on Earth as crowds gathered to watch. Gasps echoed all around the area.

"The Covenant invasion in New Mombasa-"

"...already, reports of ODST units being deployed to combat the new threat-"

"-News of the Jiralhanae landing in horrifying numbers..."

"-brutally murdered-"

"...massacred..."

Madoka swallowed and turned away when she caught a glimpse of explosions and screams followed by fire, ash, and rubble, trying not to think about the situation her family might be in right now. At the very least, the invasion was being contained to certain parts of Africa. Japan was a long ways away.

Returning to the situation at hand, Madoka glanced at a nearby map plastered on an information booth, trying to figure out where the Apollo District was located. Luckily, after spending several seconds trying to decipher the circuit-board-like picture, she realized that it was only a few blocks away. But while her mother had given her the name of the district, she hadn't given Madoka specific directions as to where to go from there. Madoka sighed, biting her lip when she realized that she'd have to ask around once she got there.

Madoka looked back towards the landing gate she had come from, filled with various travelers and military units. It was unlikely any of them would be able to help her, or that she could even trust any of them anyways. Most people would be busy looking out for themselves, after all. If Earth could be attacked, then so could this space port.

After a few seconds of thought, Madoka decided that her best bet was to wander around for a while. With her luck, this 'Tomoe Mami' contact would be looking for her as well, even if it wasn't likely. Making sure that her hood covered as much of her face as possible, Madoka took another deep breath and walked further into the maze of buildings and pulsing lights. More light cruisers soared overhead, making the street rumble slightly. With the attack on Earth, tensions were at an all-time high.

It didn't take long for Madoka to realize that the UNSC space port had many shady corners and alleyways. The further she walked, the more the lights around her seemed to dim. The griminess of the streets also seemed to increase with each passing block. Just like she had heard about, the main street was full of activity and various vendors trying to sell pedestrians various exotic items. Some of them called out to Madoka as she walked past with a polite smile, trying not to get caught in the hubbub. But what she didn't hear about was all the shady people that loitered around as well, shooting her curious looks. Madoka just scurried along, trying to avoid meeting their gazes. She wasn't sure how reliable and watchful the police officers of the space port were, and didn't wait around long enough to find out.

Fully aware that she had next to nothing, Madoka knew that if things with this mysterious helper didn't work out, she wasn't sure how safe she'd ever be out here. Luckily, she was wearing sneakers instead of the high-heels most of her peers liked to wear. They'd come in handy if she had to run, which seemed more and more likely the further she ventured into the space port.

"What are you looking for?"

Madoka jumped at the voice. She turned, noticing that a man wearing a thick cloak had called out to her. Judging by the predatory smile on his face, he didn't exactly seem like he was keen on helping her with directions, despite what he had said.

"I-I'm meeting someone." Madoka stuttered, trying to slink away.

"Oh, what a pity." The man slowly approached Madoka, looming large over her. Fear gripped Madoka's muscles as she remained rooted to the spot. She bit her lip, flinching when the man turned down to look at her.

"S-Sorry. I need to go." Madoka managed to stammer, very much aware that no one else nearby seemed to be interested with her predicament. When the man didn't say anything, she took off, striding away from him as fast as she could without completely bolting off.

As Madoka continued walking away, getting more and more lost with each step, she berated herself for not being able to take better care of herself. Not that she was a coward for running away then, but she also needed to know how to stand up for herself to get what she wanted. From what Madoka had heard about space, people were highly independent and didn't give in to fear. Like her mother had always taught her, she needed to learn how to also become independent and assert herself if she was going to get anywhere in life.

Madoka stopped walking when she realized she had made her way back onto the main street, in the middle of the Apollo District. Unlike the place she had just ran from, this area didn't seem so bad. The small shops and food vendors on either side of her seemed just as good of a place to start looking for help to find her mysterious helper as any. She'd probably have much better luck with the kinder store owners than random pedestrians anyways.

The UNSC Space Port was a long away from Earth, just as big and bright as Madoka had imagined it, back when she was young and full of wonder. There were many things to see, learn, and explore. But just like there were stars, space was also full of darkness. Danger from strangers and the recent Covenant attack, especially with the thought of her family on her mind, put a hint of apprehension in Madoka's steps. The sooner she found Tomoe Mami, the better. Deciding upon her course of action, Madoka took another deep breath, squared her shoulders, and made her way to the closest coffee shop, one with the faded words 'TIRO FINALE' painted over the door.


	2. Chapter 2: The Lead

**VAGABOND**

**Chapter 2: The Lead**

* * *

The world around her was burning red, renegade embers eagerly licking at the carcasses of what was once concrete and steel buildings. Smoke billowed everywhere like a thick black fog, threatening to suffocate anyone who dared enter. Above, the sun glared down like an eye from an angry crimson sky.

She was tired. Her legs felt heavy and her breaths came out in shallow ragged gasps, but she kept going. A disquieting sense of urgency kept her pressing onwards, despite the pain lacing through her feet. It was better to keep moving than to linger in a wasteland like this anyways.

There were no recognizable landmarks to help her discern where she was, but from all the large, decaying steel foundations lining the ruptured road, she could hypothesize that this area was once part of a city. Skyscrapers that had once risen to touch the clouds now lay in ruin and rubble along the scorched earth. The collateral damage the war had caused was well beyond repair.

She caught a glimpse of pink in the distance, someone familiar and close, yet always just out of reach. She quickened her pace, tracking the fleeting figure through the smoky haze and burning concrete jungle, coughing to clear her lungs. A rumble in the distance echoed too close for comfort, and her urgency heightened.

Something flashed in her mind as she swiftly ran over the scorched earth. A distant memory. A familiar voice. She briefly looked around at the immediate landscape, blinking at the structure of the crumbled building up ahead. She knew this place...

She was a hundred feet away, but it was still too far...

The streak of pink hair was getting closer as she quickly closed the gap. The flames licked at her feet, but she was running now, reaching out a hand to grab the girl by the shoulder. Another rumble sounded, but it was just a dull roar in her ears. Her desperate breathing, uneven footsteps, and the measured beating of her heart were the only sounds she could hear.

Fifty feet.

Twenty feet.

Ten feet.

Five feet.

Somewhere, beyond the haze of fire and ash, something was coming. The world began to heat up around her, as one last rumble made the whole ground quake violently beneath her. But she didn't stop running, pushing forward through a world falling apart.

"Homura."

Only now did she realize that her vision was blurry. Her peripheral vision narrowed, growing darker around the edges. Suddenly rooted to the spot, she couldn't move and reach out to touch the girl in front of her. The girl turned, and she caught a glimpse of a sad smile. She tried to say something, but the rumbling stole the sound from her lips.

"Homura."

The whole world caved in as they fell into a void she couldn't see the end of. She grasped at the girl's arm, desperate pleas escaping her lips only to be swept away by fire and darkness. There was nothing she could do, and she was falling down, down, down...

"Madoka!"

Breathing hard and completely covered in sweat, Homura opened her eyes.

* * *

Even after living in the UNSC space station for as long as she could remember, Homura still found the action of waking up to darkness utterly jarring.

She wasn't alone in her sentiment. There were always travelers from Earth complaining about the constant night sky of space, longing to see a shade of familiar blue or maybe a cloud drifting by overhead. That nostalgia of Earth's atmosphere was labelled as "space sickness" by the port's doctors, similar to being homesick.

Homura sighed, wondering if she'd ever have the opportunity to go back to her birth planet, if only for sentimental value. But it was a luxury to entertain such thoughts considering that once you left Earth, it was usually for good. And with the news of the Covenant invasion, it wasn't likely that she'd ever go back anytime soon.

From her position on the bed, Homura looked up through her bedroom window at the perpetually-black sea of space stretching across the "sky". Somewhere in the distance was a relatively thin layer of artificial atmosphere that captured the oxygen and other atmospheric gases the space station's inhabitants needed to live. The only way people were able to discern between day and night here was through the UNSC time system, because the space station never slept with its abundance of night clubs, bars, and other businesses...

Desperately hoping she had at least another hour to sleep in, Homura groaned and rolled over to look at her clock. 7:17 AM, intergalactic time.

No such luck.

Homura heard a low chuckle from somewhere behind her, and reached up to flick on the lights before turning to meet Kyouko's grinning face.

The redhead was sitting on the edge of her bed, her ponytail swooping over her shoulders as she turned to look at the ravenette. When she saw that Homura was awake, her face lit up and a subtle smirk crept along her lips. "Mornin', Homura." she casually greeted.

"Mm," Homura tiredly grunted in lieu of an actual reply, throwing aside her covers and sitting up. As she yawned and stretched, her cheeks began to tingle at the feeling of Kyouko's gaze aimed in her direction the whole duration. Only now did Homura wonder how long Kyouko had been sitting there and watching her sleep, as she felt a blush begin to rise to her face at the uncomfortable idea.

Her already cramped room was steadily becoming Kyouko's domain these days, and the evidence was everywhere in crumbs, scrap metal, and candy wrappers strewn across the floor. Though Homura had a separate guest room for Kyouko to sleep in, the redhead had a tendency to curl up right next to her, much to her mild annoyance.

But they were both at fault, really. Kyouko insisted that it was too cold during the nights to sleep alone. Homura didn't bother pointing out that she had a thick blanket anyways.

"Had that dream again?" Kyouko suddenly asked, and Homura realized that she was still drenched in sweat, lukewarm beads of water condensing on her arms and forehead. Kyouko had a tendency to be more perceptive than she looked.

"Mm, yeah." Homura softly admitted, not bothering to elaborate since she had already told Kyouko most of the details. She reached onto her bedside table for her daily pills - nothing more than simple vitamins to keep her relatively frail physical build healthy. Kyouko had already brought a glass of cold water from the kitchen, which Homura gratefully accepted, downing the medicine in one gulp. "It's always the same each time," she muttered after wiping her mouth with the back of her sleeve. "And it's been happening a lot more recently."

Kyouko tilted her head, as an errant strand of scarlet hair slipped down across her ruby eyes. It took some of Homura's willpower not to absentmindedly brush it away out of pure habit. "About that pink-haired girl, right?"

Homura set the empty cup down on the bedside table and nodded, her brows furrowing as she began to muse her dream. Why did that girl always feel so… nostalgic? She had never even seen anyone with pink hair in her entire life. "I've never seen her before, but for some reason, she seems so familiar…"

"Maybe it's _that_, right?" Kyouko's lips twisted into a devious grin as she leaned closer, crawling across the bed towards Homura to playfully poke her on the nose. "It could be fate or your soulmate or something. Don't people dream about stuff like that?"

Homura rolled her eyes at the notion, annoyed at the redhead's inability to take this seriously. "I don't know about _soul_mate, but she could be my new _room_mate when I eventually decide to kick you out of here."

Kyouko pouted for a few seconds, before bursting into unapologetic laughter. She had a way of looking rueful and smug at the same time, turning everything into a joke. "Hey, but don't you think you should see a doctor about this?" Kyouko added after her amusement had abated, her tone slightly more serious.

Homura frowned and made an irritated noise in the back of her throat. "I don't think something trivial like this requires medical assistance. It wouldn't be worth the cost. We're low on money as it stands."

"That's because you keep buying food all the time," Kyouko quickly pointed out.

"That's because of _you_," Homura nudged Kyouko in a way that felt half-heartedly annoyed, even to herself. She was becoming too soft on the redhead these days, getting used to all of her quirks and antics over time. "I swear I spend at least half of our budget on food."

Kyouko shrugged. "What else would you use the money for anyways? It's not like you're one of those people obsessed with the newest space fashion and trends. Hell, sometimes I feel like your clothes closet is just as bare as mine."

"Your closet is empty right now, because you're wearing its entire contents." Homura said pointedly, glancing at Kyouko's customary jean shorts and ragged green jacket.

"_Exactly,_" was Kyouko's smug conclusion. "You're not much better."

Deciding against pointlessly arguing any further, Homura hopped down from the bed and stalked over to the far side of the room. She opened the small door leading inside her closet - a cramped alcove no bigger than the inside of a refrigerator. Right now, it was just a space to store her clothes, but she had once filled the interior with cushions and took refuge reading in there.

Homura's eyes eventually settled upon a white and lavender t-shirt, and loose darkly-colored jeans to match. She retrieved them from the closet, holding them in front of her to make sure that they didn't have too many wrinkles. While it was true that she didn't follow the latest trends like other girls her age, she knew how to dress comfortably.

"Looks good, Homura." Kyouko smirked and went to mess with Homura's hair, but the ravenette ducked the assault, shooting her a glare. "Don't take too long. Breakfast will be ready in a bit, so come down soon," Kyouko added, before disappearing downstairs.

Homura followed after her in a few minutes after changing, crouching through the small bedroom door and down the ladder leading into the first floor of her apartment. She jumped down the last few rungs, landing on the gray floor below and ducking under one of the low air vents that ran across the room.

The UNSC Space Station was supposed to be a haven for immigrants trying to escape their dying worlds to live a better life. The truth was, that was only true if you had connections. Homura had come here alone many years ago, with only faint memories of her early life on Earth. It didn't take long for her to realize that the space station was not a kind and safe place for a young girl on her own. Luckily, she had quickly stumbled across Kyouko, another young street girl without any hope for a better future. Homura had chalked it up to pure chance, Kyouko had called it fate. Since then, they had managed to work together using Homura's intelligence and Kyouko's street smarts, getting around by working odd jobs here and there. Now, they had relatively stable jobs and even owned a small apartment tucked away in one of the housing complexes on the main landing strip.

Homura knew that she wouldn't have gotten as far without Kyouko, being as antisocial and less acute to the "rules of the world" as the redhead was. So she always felt a sense of gratitude and friendship towards her. Still, that didn't stop Homura from pretending to be annoyed at the redhead every so often, even if both of them knew that it was done with affection deep down.

Kyouko was already waiting in the kitchen, standing behind the counter as she tended to an omelette gently sizzling on a rusted frying pan - one of the few kitchenware they owned. She looked up at the sound of Homura quietly padding into the kitchen, nodding as she silently acknowledged the ravenette's presence.

Homura, being as quiet and small as she was, was usually able to slip past people without them realizing. But she could never escape underneath Kyouko's notice. Homura took a seat at the kitchen table, skimming over the newspaper lying on top as breaking headlines jumped out at her. More reports about the Covenant invasion on Earth. A special opening of a new shopping district on the far side of the space station. A public announcement to be wary of illegal vagabonds running amok. The corporation known as "Avalon" planning to unveil a new project soon.

Homura sighed and flipped through the newspaper to the third section, reading over the noise of eggs sizzling on the burner. It turned out that there were quite a few people smuggled onto transport ships from Earth to here, bypassing security along the way. According to Avalon, the new military company and political faction in charge of the war on Earth, those "vagabonds" were a threat to the public safety of the space station. Any suspicious persons or activity should be reported immediately to the authorities.

"The left burner is broken, by the way." Kyouko suddenly spoke up from in front of the stove.

Homura glanced up from the newspaper. "What? No, it's fine. You just have to leave it for a moment."

True to her word, the burner sputtered into small flames not a few seconds later. Kyouko stepped backwards, impressed. "That would've been useful to know five minutes ago. I hope you like your eggs semi-cold."

Homura just shrugged, took her plate of breakfast, and quickly picked through it with a fork. As she ate, she glanced through the small porthole-like window in the kitchen and saw that a light fog had descended outside. This morning must have been one of those scheduled drizzles designed to clean the space station's public walkways and provide water to the various open greenhouses across the district. Homura didn't particularly care for rain though, so she simply sighed and settled deeper into her chair, already mentally parsing through the few selection of jackets she owned.

As Homura cleaned the last of her plate and walked it over to the dishwasher, Kyouko promptly took a seat at the table, arms cradling a large piece of metal that looked like it was once a camera.

Homura walked over to her, an eyebrow raised at the strange object. "What is that?"

Kyouko looked down, and then unfurled her arms so that Homura could get a better look. It looked like one of those ancient cameras used to film movies, before everything became holographic in the 22nd Century. "I found it behind one of Avalon's buildings in Lafayette District last night-"

"Found it?" Homura slowly repeated, giving Kyouko a wary look as if the relic could turn out to be a bomb and explode at any second. The redhead did have a bad habit of collecting old trinkets, after all… "I'm going to regret asking this, but… how exactly did you find it?"

Kyouko just flashed her an easygoing grin. "One of the employees was about to throw it out anyways, so I did him a favor and took it when he wasn't looking. Finders keepers, right?"

"And that's _legal_?"

"Yeah," Kyouko stared at Homura like she was the crazy one, when in fact Homura was quite sure that it was vice-versa. "As long as they don't catch you doing it."

"Oh, right." Homura said, unable to refute that logic. That was the unwritten law of the UNSC space station. The few police patrols that were on district duty looked like they wanted nothing more than to walk a couple of blocks, ignore everything happening behind their backs, and then go home to shove some food in their face and sleep. "But what do you need it for?"

Kyouko shrugged. "It's a surprise."

"What kind of surprise?" Homura asked carefully.

"A surprise surprise," Kyouko cryptically replied. She had a smile on her face, and Homura wondered how long it was going to be before she started to laugh like a psychopath. "I can't tell you yet."

"Then why are you showing it to me?"

"You'll find out soon." Kyouko smirked.

Homura ignored the sarcasm, heading back to the foyer and kicking the small pressure plate on the floor that opened the front door. "I'm heading off to work. You might want to come if you want your paycheck anytime soon."

The echo of a snorted "yeah, yeah" followed Homura as the ravenette grabbed her coat and headed out.

* * *

Homura nodded to the security bot on her way out of the apartment complex, jogging down the stairs to the front gate. As she passed through, the filtered air of the main station hit her all at once, the smell faintly metallic and clinical. The main street was bustling with people, some making mad dashes for exit gates while others leaned against the railings on the landing strip, simply watching the madness. Still others conversed in groups in some shadier corners.

Maybe she was wrong for practically bolting out the front door, leaving Kyouko behind in the process, but Homura had begun to feel ill ever since she had woken up. Her head was pounding, as if someone was drilling a hole through the side of her skull. She needed a moment alone to clear her thoughts from that vividly recurring dream of hers.

It had been at least the thirtieth time she had experienced it – fifteen within the last month. At first, Homura had kept it to herself. There was nothing unusual about having the same dream, she had initially thought. But after the tenth night she had woken up shaking uncontrollably and sweating, she was beginning to feel apprehensive. It hadn't passed underneath Kyouko's notice either...

A low rumble shook the ground underneath Homura's feet, and she looked up to see a massive flagship flying over the space station towards the depths of space. More likely than not, it was on a course back to Earth, filled with ODST units to combat the Covenant attack. From what she had heard so far, the war wasn't going in humanity's favor. Those soldiers were going to need a lot of luck if they planned on repelling an invasion by a vast and fearsome alien race.

Homura had heard stories about how the Covenant had completely glassed Reach, enveloping the entire planet in pillars of white-hot fire. She tried not to think about if the same fate could befall Earth, wrapping her jacket tighter around herself to suppress an involuntary shiver from the cold drizzle. There were people walking quickly all around her, going to work or traveling, most of them clutching their coats or pulling down hoods to ward off the chill. It was always cold in the space station, being in space and all...

The Apollo District was about a mile wide spiral of building complexes settled at the far end of the UNSC space station. It was always packed and never peaceful - the main hub of activity unlike other quieter business districts like Lafayette or Ashland.

The crowd around Homura as she walked further down the main street was immense, a mass of bodies moving in the shadows cast by brightly-colored neon lights from nearby stores. Shops, bars, and restaurants lined the sides of the road, all competing for their attention. Homura had to squint through the bright lights and slip past people, getting knocked around by the moving crowd a few times in the process. The stifling crowd presence and noise was already beginning to worsen her headache...

The flickering sign at the far end of the main street caught Homura's attention. It belonged to _Tiro Finale_, one of the more popular hangouts in the UNSC main station. It was nothing more than a tea and coffee shop, along with a few breakfast and lunch items, but it had some of the finest food in the entire space station. Tomoe Mami, its owner, had bought it back on Earth, only to ship it here in hopes of attracting more customers, but she'd never say one way or the other. Homura was just more interested in the work than asking Mami about her past anyways.

With a final longing glance, Homura turned away and headed for the backroads. She hurried along the alley, stepping around a couple of shady-looking people as she went. The public announcements on the walls were fading underneath the fluorescent street lamps above, but they were still readable. A few had been altered as the space station had grown, urging travelers to take different routes to avoid certain districts.

It had been a while since Homura had ventured down here. She moved to the side of the alleyway and leaned against the wall, pausing to take a breath. She had been used to this back when she was scourging around for odd jobs in her early years with Kyouko. She had prided herself on being able to look out for herself. Perhaps working with Mami and Kyouko had made her soft over the years…

Homura took out a small note of paper from her pocket, glancing at the message scribbled on the surface. She was in the right place. Contrary to popular belief, it wasn't too hard to find work in the space station if you knew the right people.

Of course, it was finding the right people that was the problem. With most businesses being as illicit as they were, it was hard to get in the know without getting strung out. There were only so many places where the law couldn't see or hear you – in smoky bars with dim lighting or crowded stores from the subtlest change of an expression across an aisle.

Homura saw the neon sign flickering in the alleyway amongst uprooted concrete slabs and decaying vehicle carcasses. She could hear the buzzing of the neon tubes from where she stood, the sharp scent of sulfur smoldering in the air. A cracked store window granted Homura a distorted view of herself, her lavender eyes shockingly pale in the dim light.

Maybe she shouldn't be here. Maybe she should turn back.

Homura shook her head. Steeling herself, she shoved her hands in her jacket pocket and entered the side stairs leading down into the darkness below...

* * *

Mami had always been an early riser.

Perhaps it had been her time spent in the army, but nothing invigorated the young woman more than getting up with the sun and firing up the machines in the kitchen, letting the smell of freshly baking bread, boiling tea, and slowly-brewing coffee delight her senses.

Buying the coffee shop had been a spur of the moment decision. Faced with the question of what to do with her life after completing the basic mandatory UNSC training, something about the quaint shop had always appealed to her.

Perhaps it was how it was just tucked away at the end of the main street, barely peeking out from an alleyway that you could easily miss. Nestled amongst a book store and a vehicle mechanic shop, the smell of sugary pastries and hot coffee wafted invitingly between the two, coaxing customers inside. Or maybe it was the homely atmosphere that encompassed her when she first stepped inside, delicacies of all sorts lined up in the glass cases.

Whatever it was, Mami bought the place on the spot, even though she wasn't exactly well-versed with running a coffee shop.

Thankfully it hadn't taken long to learn, and the rhythm of her new job and life quickly took over. While flour and sugar seemed to be permanently stained on her clothes and sprinkled in her hair, she was just so _content_. Cooking was something she just loved to do, and if she could make a business out of it, then it was all the better. Of course, it wasn't all sunshine and roses. Balancing the daily orders and cooking times of all the various things was a tricky task that she couldn't do alone - it was a shame she had to burn through an entire batch of bagels to realize that.

Mami had offered the job to her longtime acquaintance Kyouko as almost a side note - a _"hey, I know you're busy with your own life, but this is here if you'd like to come anytime."_ Mami was pretty convinced that her offer would be turned down, seeing as how Kyouko was never one to stay too long in any one place. But Kyouko hadn't seen it as just a simple offer - she saw it as her friend and mentor wanting a helping hand and an offer to stay together. Considering how she was looking around for jobs anyways, the choice had been obvious.

Homura had been the last addition to their trio. When you're running a business, the phrase 'the more the merrier' really does mean something. Besides, the ravenette had a tendency to follow Kyouko around wherever she went anyways. Homura had started off as a delivery girl to "test the waters", working another part-time job on her own. But Mami, while getting better at managing a business, still wasn't an expert when it came to the financial aspect. The army was good for a lot of things, but practicing efficient math skills wasn't one of those. Kyouko wasn't exactly a math-whiz either.

Needless to say, with Homura eventually looking over finances full-time, life got a lot easier for the three of them. The kitchen felt a bit livelier, even though Homura wasn't the most talkative companion. Sure, there were still times when they would all be scurrying around in the kitchen, flour and sugar flying everywhere because they had missed that one order or forgotten to resupply their stock of coffee beans.

But it was all worth it when the end of the day came, and sometimes they'd all fall asleep next to each other in the kitchen, exhausted from the long day as faint music from the radio gently sung them a lullaby.

Mami had never been happier.

Currently, she had just finished setting up the stools in the main eating area, arranging them neatly around the circular tables dotted across the main floor. Mami heard the jingle of the bells to the cafe door and glanced over her shoulder to see Kyouko struggling through the entrance, carrying two whole sacks of coffee beans over her shoulder. Quickly, she rushed over to pluck one from the redhead's arms, smiling at the relieved sigh she got in return.

"Akemi-san isn't with you?" Mami asked as they hefted the coffee beans into the back of the kitchen, leaning them underneath the coffee machine. Usually the two of them would come to work together, since they lived together and all. It certainly wasn't odd for them to arrive separately, but it _had_ been happening more recently...

"Nah," Kyouko said nonchalantly, pulling up a stool behind the counter to sit on as they began waiting for the first trickle of customers to enter through the door. "She needed to do go somewhere, I guess. She's probably looking around for another part time job."

"Shouldn't you have gone with her?" Mami asked, wrinkling her nose in concern. "The space port can be dangerous for a young girl on her own."

Kyouko shrugged and waved it off. "This is Homura we're talking about. She can handle herself just fine. What I'm more interested in is why she needs more money…"

Mami smiled and winked. "Don't you think she's doing it for you?"

"…for me?" Kyouko echoed, not quite comprehending.

"Never mind. Ah, here they come-" Mami stood up, smiling politely at the first few customers that entered the cafe. She nudged Kyouko. "Watch over the register until Akemi-san comes."

"But I watched over the register all day yesterday…" Kyouko sourly replied, watching Mami as she hurried off to take the first few orders of the day...

* * *

Homura entered the cafe along with the second trickle of customers. She stopped at the doormat, dusting the beads of rain from her coat and taking it off, tucking it under her arm as she made her way to the back. It had been a long walk from the backroads, and she was chilled all the way to the bone, simply grateful for the heating in the cafe.

"About time _you _showed up," Kyouko grumbled under her breath as she noticed Homura enter, walking away from the counter and jabbing a thumb back at the register. Homura just shrugged her apology and went to take the redhead's spot.

Kyouko disappeared into the kitchen and Homura followed behind her with the intention of leaving her jacket there, until a hand landed on her shoulder. When Homura whirled around, Mami was right beside her, looking at her with that same soft smile she gave most people, all comforting and trustworthy.

"I'm glad to see that you're safe, Akemi-san," Mami cheerfully said. When all she got was a confused look in return, Mami added, "I heard from Kyouko that you were wandering around on your own this morning."

Kyouko smirked at Homura's expression as she reemerged from the kitchen. Homura just shot her an annoyed glance. "Thank you for your concern, but I'm fine, as you can see," Homura eventually muttered.

Mami nodded. "It's my duty as an employer to look over you, after all. Don't go wandering around too late tonight."

"I won't."

"Really?" Mami gave her a doubtful look.

"I've lived here long enough to know not to do that," Homura calmly explained. She was trying her best not to raise the worries of the blonde-haired girl, but it was hard when Mami was someone who naturally became worried in the first place. "If I was not aware, I wouldn't even be here right now," she added, but it was a poor attempt to lighten the situation.

Mami just sighed, muttering something about how the space station needed to tighten their security, and retreated back into the kitchen.

Homura shot another icy glance at Kyouko along with a sarcastic muted _'Thanks.'_ Kyouko just rolled her eyes and walked back in the direction of the counter, muttering, "Not my fault she worries a lot," which left Homura to return to her post at the register in unhappy silence.

The problem was that Mami, as generous and kind as she was, had a tendency to try to be in control of everything. The note felt heavy in Homura's pocket, and she wondered if she was going to have another opportunity to slip beneath Mami's notice in the near future.

* * *

About an hour passed by as Homura diligently organized orders and collected money at the register. It was the same everyday, so she could have done it with her eyes closed by now. And she might have, if only to catch up on some more sleep. Today looked like it was going to be another slow day.

Homura blinked to stay awake, and glanced outside. It was still drizzling, but the fog was heavy than before. The crowd of people walking around outside looked like phantasmic silhouettes eerily drifting past in the gray-white haze, fading into and out of view.

An image of a red, burning world flashed in Homura's idle mind. Her thoughts had touched upon her recurring dream more than once in the past ten minutes, yet she couldn't make any sense of it. She was just about to wonder if it could mean something serious, when all of a sudden she heard Kyouko's voice sharply drift over the quiet chatter and music of the cafe. Homura looked up from her spot to see, from the looks of it, Kyouko arguing with a customer by the far window.

Homura sighed, wondering why Mami had ever thought it was a good idea to let Kyouko handle customers. There was no way Kyouko, as brash and quick-tempered as she was, could ever fit the stereotypically polite and exceedingly patient personality of a waitress. Homura remained in spot for several seconds, hoping that either Kyouko would calm down or that Mami would hear and emerge from the kitchen to resolve the issue, but to no avail. With another heavy sigh, Homura slowly stood up and warily walked over to Kyouko's position.

As Homura approached, she could see more clearly the customer Kyouko was having a heated discussion with. He was young and fairly short, but still a few years older and inches taller than either of them. Broad shoulders supported a head with short black hair and dark brown eyes that were fixed in a look of disbelief. A large black raincoat a few sizes too big covered what was otherwise a stocky figure.

"It's burnt," he said, speaking very clearly to Kyouko with the mildest trace of frustration in his deep tone. He held up his cup of coffee to demonstrate. "That's what I've been saying this whole time."

"And _I'm _telling you that it can't be burnt." Kyouko retorted. "It's a liquid! How do you burn a liquid?"

"You _can _burn a liquid. That's why it tastes so bitter. There are many subtle gradations of temperature you need to consider when heating coffee, you can't just boil everything haphazardly-"

Homura cleared her throat a little loudly, ignoring the pointed look from Kyouko. She wasn't about to play favorites here, much to Kyouko's chagrin. "Excuse me, what appears to be the problem?" Homura asked in the most polite tone she could muster, without letting her dryness show through.

"Ah, thank god," the young man looked up gratefully at Homura's intervention. "_Finally_ someone that looks like they can understand an intelligent comment."

Kyouko drew back her foot to kick him under the table, but Homura noticed and stopped her just in time by stepping on her foot not too softly. With Kyouko quietly cursing in her ear, Homura continued, "It appears that you have a problem with your order, is that right?"

"Well yes, my coffee appears to be burnt-"

"Your coffee is _burnt_, you say?" Homura interrupted, peering at the brownish liquid inside the cup. "It doesn't appear to be black, though."

"Well no, you've got to taste it to see-"

"Taste it? Are you implying that you recognize the taste from eating other burnt foods?"

"What? No, I don't eat burnt foods-"

"Then you couldn't possibly know that this is burnt, if you don't eat burnt foods." Homura simply deduced, setting down the cup of coffee in front of the confused customer. She wasn't in the best mood today, and to top that off, she wasn't keen of customer service anyways. So she couldn't help but let some of her dark humor and cynicism show through. "It's quite possible that this is just a taste you don't recognize. It's rude to us if you simply call this burnt."

"…What? No, hold on-"

"In fact, it appears that your complaints are disturbing the other customers-" Homura gestured around to the few mildly interested people staring at the odd trio in the back corner of the cafe. "So would you please vacate the premise at this time, Coffee-boy?"

"Me? Vacate? Wait, _C__offee-boy_?" The young man tried to stand up, but Kyouko was already grabbing him by the shoulder and leading him out the door.

"Yeah, _vacate_. Goodbye. Adios. Sayonara." Kyouko promptly shoved the befuddled customer out the front door, closing it behind him. She watched him leave for a few seconds, before dusting her hands off and turning back to Homura. "You know, you're not very good with handling customers."

"I don't want to hear that from _you_, of all people."

* * *

Another young man of a similar age was waiting for the boy as he exited the cafe. A few inches taller than his companion with neatly combed chestnut-colored hair hanging over wire-framed glasses, he had a way of standing tall and arrogantly peering down on other people. With the book he was casually reading in the shadows of the alleyway, he looked like he could have been a college student - until one remembered that there were no universities in this part of the space station.

"Done so soon?" The brown-haired boy quirked an eyebrow above his thin-framed glasses.

"Oh shut up," was the first boy's response, as he dusted off his large jacket and frowned at the rain. "Isn't there some sort of rule where the customer is always right? But this is _space_, so to hell with that, I guess."

The brown-haired boy gave his companion a hawkish look, before glancing inside through the cafe window. "It appears like you had quite the experience in there, Coffee-boy-"

"_Coffee-boy_?" Coffee-boy incredulously sputtered, almost doubling over. "Don't be such a prick just because Avalon's president thinks so highly of you. I've got a name, Maximilian. It's Ph-"

"Coffee-boy," Maximilian patiently began, ignoring his companion's pleas. "-did you get any readings?"

Temporarily giving up his argument, Coffee-boy shook his head, tapping the large camera-like device strapped to his back. "Nothing. But what did we expect anyways? It's not like we're going to get any results by randomly searching all public areas."

Maximilian nodded in silent agreement. He wasn't fond of the idea either, but it was a direct order from their superiors after all. "Is that a new device?"

Coffee-boy paused, taken off guard by the sudden question. "Yeah, why?"

"What happened to the original one?" was Maximilian's slightly wary follow-up question.

Coffee-boy shrugged, oblivious to the gravity of his actions. "It was acting up, so I tossed it out last night and replaced it with this new one."

"Tossed it out?" Maximilian frowned, narrowing his eyes. He was soft-spoken and didn't talk often, but he knew how to look stern when he needed to. "Next time, let me take care of the disposal. I don't want something like this falling into the wrong hands. The next thing you know, our entire project will be blown."

"Yeah, yeah," Coffee-boy shrugged again. "You worry too much."

Maximilian pursed his lips, and cast another gaze upwards. The sky was black and dotted with faintly twinkling stars, like it always was. It had taken the better part of a century to figure out the most energy-efficient system to produce artificial rain without the presence of clouds. And yet, it was that seemingly simple achievement that had granted him recognition in the group known as "Avalon". He didn't even like the rain. Ironic how things worked, really.

"We've got a ship to catch." Maximilian finally said, adjusting his glasses before they slipped off his nose. "Let's go."

"Yeah, we're meeting our new recruit, aren't we?" Coffee-boy piped up as Maximilian pulled a tablet from his coat interior, handing it to him. A plethora of information scurried across the screen as the shorter boy squinted at the image. "Miki… Sayaka?" he read, frowning at the unusual name. "An intergalactic foreigner?"

"She's from Earth, moron." Maximilian muttered under his breath, pocketing the tablet in the folds of his jacket once again. "Learn to be more aware of the universe around you once in a while."

Coffee-boy just shrugged, shouldered the device strapped to his back, and followed his companion down the blinking lights of the space landing strip.

* * *

When the last of the cafe's customers silently trailed out the front door, Homura let out a sigh she hadn't even realized she had been storing inside of her.

Another relatively uneventful day gone by. Hopefully another one to come tomorrow.

After quickly going through the day's earnings and logging it in their holographic budget sheet, Homura locked up the register and stood up, stretching. Kyouko was sitting at one of the cafe tables, eating takeout dinner from a nearby restaurant as she watched the large monitor behind the counter. Homura sat down next to her and plucked a French fry from her bag.

"Hey!" Kyouko shot her an indignant look.

"It's not like you don't eat enough back home anyways." Homura said, nibbling on the salty snack.

Kyouko grumbled but conceded the point, leaning back in her seat to look back at the television, folding her arms in contemplative silence. In space, there were hardly any good news. But it had been even worse than normal - nowadays, most of the broadcasts were about the war on Earth.

Luckily all of them had been sheltered from the Human-Covenant War when it had broken out – the events confined to pictures of destruction plastered on the news and whispers of who was really winning. The UNSC media didn't know what to make of the situation, having optimistically predicted a quick retaliation until Reach had been thoroughly glassed and humanity pushed to the brink. The headlines were still covered with city after city falling under siege, and the more extreme "IS THERE NO HOPE FOR HUMANITY?"

"Homura?" The voice snapped the ravenette out of her thoughts. When Homura looked up, she realized that she had been sitting at the table and spacing off for god knows how long. She turned to see Mami leaning against the seat beside her, giving her one of those usual _'I'm worried about you' _expressions and holding her jacket. Kyouko, who had just been here a moment ago, was nowhere to be seen.

"We made about four thousand in profit today," Homura automatically answered.

"Okay," Mami chuckled, taking a seat. "But more importantly, how are you doing? Did you have those dreams again last night?" she softly asked.

It wasn't like there was a reason to lie, so Homura nodded, keeping her eyes glued to the monitor showing images of destruction on Earth.

"Did you take your medication?"

Another silent nod. Both of them knew that Homura had definitely lost some weight recently, despite Mami's best efforts to get her to eat more often and healthily. Was it the dreams that had impacted her appetite? Neither of them knew for sure.

Satisfied for the moment, Mami glanced up at the television with Homura, and the conversation between the two of them faded off into uncomfortable silence. They didn't really talk much outside of work, and it showed. Homura wasn't really sure what Mami wanted, even though she had an idea.

"Okay, I have a question," Mami suddenly said, glancing back at Homura. "Are you proud of yourself?"

Homura thought about it quickly. Here she was, only sixteen years old, and she already had a perfectly legal, stable job and a place to live in the space station. Not many people could boast those accolades as adults, much less a teenager. Of course, Homura could always do better. But higher education was extremely limited around these parts, and with the responsibility of taking care of Kyouko, she had never really considered it. "I guess so," was the conclusion Homura arrived at.

"Yeah, of course you are," Mami chuckled softly, her eyes shining with warmth at Homura. "Okay, you're proud. And I'm very proud of you too. But my real question is… are you happy with it?"

Homura frowned slightly. She wasn't sure what Mami was trying to get at. "What do you mean?"

"I mean are you happy with yourself?" Mami repeated, sounding more serious this time.

Was there a difference between that and being proud? Homura bit her lip in thought. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Is being here what you really want? Or is there something else that's calling you elsewhere?"

Unbidden, Homura's thoughts flashed back to that pink-haired girl in her dream. "I don't know," she finally admitted. "I wouldn't mind staying here with you and Kyouko for some time. I do feel grateful to you both. And I wouldn't have any other friends if I left."

"I see." Mami nodded, looking like she had heard the answer she had wanted to hear, even if both of them knew that it wasn't the whole truth. "I just think that now is the time when you should start thinking about your future. That's all."

"Hey, Mami," Kyouko's head poked around the corner from the kitchen. "I finished checking up on everything in storage. I'm good to go, right?"

"Did you finish cleaning?" Mami asked.

Kyouko's consequent groan signified that she hadn't, but the redhead reluctantly trotted back.

Mami scrubbed a hand across her face and let out a tired sigh. She glanced at the clock. "How long until inspection arrives today?"

"A few minutes," Homura said. "Maybe longer."

"Let me know when they come. I'm going to go help Kyouko in the kitchen."

"Okay. I'm heading off then."

Mami stood up from the table and paused. She opened her mouth to ask if Homura wanted to take the day off tomorrow, maybe rest at home a little to clear her thoughts, but Homura stepped around her, pulling the jacket from her hands as she passed.

"I'd better come tomorrow and make sure you don't mess up your total earnings," Homura told her as she slung on her coat, buttoning it up in preparation for the night chill.

"Are you sure?" Mami tentatively asked.

Homura didn't bother replying, nor brushing away the comforting hand Mami placed on her shoulder. She watched as Mami sighed and disappeared into the back in the reflection of the café windows.

Homura used the back entrance to leave, stepping around stacks of old silverware and machine parts they'd never bothered to get rid of. The night breeze stole the breath from her lips, gently blowing against her flushed cheeks as she glanced upwards. The stars always seemed brighter on this end of the space station, but Homura knew it was only because this place felt more like home. She'd grown up here, after moving away from Earth at a very young age. She couldn't even remember her time back on Earth, or where her parents where at this point.

Homura had also heard stories about Earth. How it was filled with green, grassy fields and cool breezes. How the sky was always bright blue, and the sun gently shone upon lush forests and wintery mountains. The descriptions were exaggerated, of course, but Homura sometimes wondered what it was like to walk on a living world instead of feeling artificial metal or concrete underfoot at all times. To have a world without a continual night sky.

None of them had been back to Earth ever since the rumors of the Covenant invasion almost a year ago - Mami had only gone back on one business trip that lasted a few weeks, but that had been two years ago. The information about the imminent attack they got while Kyouko salvaged around various media news feeds in her spare time were often so broken that none of them could make much sense of them, but one of them had been clear enough. The aerial shots over New Mombasa as the landscape was devastated with explosions and plumes of smoke weren't going to be easy to forget…

None of them had said much about the topic since. Even though they never lived on Earth long enough to remember anything meaningful, and they didn't have any families except for each other, they still couldn't bear seeing the devastation on Earth recorded by press and military cameras.

Homura sighed and looked out beyond the low glow of the blinking lights at the end of the space landing strip. Nowadays, there was so much silent tension in the air. When would this space station, their home, be next to fall to the Covenant?

Homura closed her eyes. The dream last night hadn't been the first, but it had been the most vivid. Maybe Kyouko was right. Maybe talking to Mami and letting her worry would do her some good. And maybe they could all do with a break…

Her fists clenched of their own accord as she made the walk home.

* * *

Mami was trying to think.

She was settled into a plush, slightly worn leather chair in her office near the back of the café. In front of her, her computer screen was periodically flashing, an email icon in the corner indicating that she had a new, encrypted message. It had arrived in her inbox about an hour ago, and Mami had chosen to sit down instead of open it immediately, because she wasn't sure where this was going to take her.

When Mami had trained in the UNSC army, she had been more on the journalistic side of things, rather than the actual fighting and boot camp. She had worked with reporters, trying to give the public the information they needed. Her stories provided the newest information about the space frontier exploration and the latest gossip and speculation about the UNSC government, as well as the various fighting against pirate factions around the galaxy.

At first, it had suited Mami just fine, the feeling that she was doing something important, positive, and helpful behind the scenes. It was a shame it had gotten real old, real fast. She had quit, longing for a more quiet and slow-paced lifestyle. She'd thought she would never go back to her past - especially not after she had met Homura and Kyouko and settled into a routine with them.

Until the Covenant invasion on Earth, which had been the biggest news to come out of Earth's atmosphere for years.

It had been hard to swallow, the images of devastation and invading alien dropships being relayed to every media outlet in the system. And the media hopped on every opportunity for a good story. Stories of humanity's last stand were skyrocketing in popularity. Emergency crews and ODST squadrons were being hailed as heroes. Screams from the affected victims were muted beneath the voices of reporters. And most of all, a large and impossible to ignore symbol stood in the background of the most iconic shot on Earth - a white dove, wings spread wide, ten feet tall and painted on the only wall still standing amidst the wreckage and flames.

A recreation of Avalon's logo.

Unlike everyone else, Mami had always been wary of the political group. She had supported it, sure, but only because she had believed like everyone else that they were working for peace and progression. They were supposed to be helping to invent technology to heal the Earth, which was rotting at the core, and improve the everyday lives of society. They were working to help a government that seemed to be faltering against the Human-Covenant War.

But it seemed that they had decided to take a different path now, and Mami wasn't sure how to handle the stories she was being told. On the one hand, Avalon was continuing their peace-keeping efforts to provide relief and refuge to the victims of the Covenant invasion on Earth. But on the other hand, they were becoming more and more active in the war effort, even going as far to take over certain military projects and send in their own custom troops to combat the Covenant.

And it was _working_.

Mami had never witnessed such a sharp surge in public support towards the once obscure group. It was history in the making, and even as a semi-interested news collector, Mami found herself on the front lines.

Mami sighed, her head falling against the chair. Avalon had all the support they needed to take control of the UNSC government. One more stand against the Covenant, the Battle of Earth won, and not only would the public be satisfied, they'd never question their government again. It just seemed all so _wrong_ somehow…

And as of this morning, word was coming in that more of Avalon's hired troops were being deployed to resist the Covenant attacks in New Mombasa. It just didn't make any sense. Why did such an obscure group want so much power and influence over so much of the UNSC's workings? How did they manage to do it?

Deep in thought, Mami came to when the tablet sitting on her desk began to beep. She let the small, impatient chirping noise fill the small room for a while, until she finally reached forward and picked it up. The screen's sensors recognized her gaze and switched to a display of her inbox.

"You haven't replied to my message."

The voice was vaguely familiar, and Mami instantly knew what it was all about. She got straight to the point, "I take it you want to talk about the Covenant Invasion? Anything worth mentioning?"

The voice on the other end didn't answer right away. Mami glanced up at her computer screen again. The left side was lined with archives of her finished works and reports from the past, though she wasn't sure whether she'd ever be using them. She brought up the message icon in the corner and ran the decryption program she had received as a member of the UNSC army. It was halfway done when the man who called her finally replied, "Avalon is to blame for everything."

Mami paused for a second, her tablet balanced between her hands. The device impatiently chirped a couple of times to remind Mami to keep it steady to optimize the sound quality of the other voice. Her eyes flickered back down to the tablet, though she knew there was no face-cam for the video chat. It was an unspoken rule among sources and news collectors to keep everyone's identity a mystery, unless you wanted to be caught by the wrong people, or even worse, dead. "Do you have proof of that?" she finally asked.

Another pause ensued, and Mami watched a line of code run down her computer screen before unceremoniously stopping at the bottom. As the small black and green characters rearranged themselves into coordinates, Mami felt something in her stomach stir the way it always did when she knew that something big was happening right in front of her.

"More or less." the voice finally said.

Mami shook her head, moving her hand up to massage her temples. She took a deep, steadying breath. "You know I need something substantial, even if I did believe you-"

"I've never lied to you before." The voice was right, of course, Mami knew. This particular informant wasn't just some random source. He had connections to the government's inner workings, though Mami wasn't sure how he had remained undetected for so long. "The Covenant invasion was the answer to Avalon's prayers," the voice continued. "They were nothing until the Covenant rumors after the fall of Reach. Now they're a mere step away from overthrowing the current regime of the UNSC with their massive public support. Surely you can connect the dots?"

Mami frowned. She had already lost her family and moved away at an early age, but she still had some connection with Earth. "Thousands of people are losing their lives as we speak. If I hadn't been decommissioned, I would've already signed up to fight back. The Battle of Earth isn't just some staged event designed to gain public support. It's a _war_."

An apologetic hum was all Mami got in return, until, "You want some substantial evidence? You'll have to get that from another source. I take it you've received the coordinates, no? This is more important than anything we've ever exposed before. You need to move quickly."

Mami nodded, though she knew she couldn't be seen. "Who is this source, exactly?"

"She has a personal link to Avalon, and carries information I have worked hard to collect. You'll find out the rest soon enough, but you'll have to travel to get the evidence. There's an abandoned freighter decaying in the 10th ward of New Mombasa. You need to find it."

"New Mombasa," Mami exclaimed at the screen. "But that's-!"

"Right where the action is."

Without so much as a good luck, the screen on the tablet flickered and went back to standby. Mami stood up and began pacing the room, trying to organize her thoughts. An abandoned freighter? That did ring a bell. Something about a scrapped project from either the UNSC or Avalon, that people explained away as a ghost ship that was never found… Others said it crashed somewhere on Earth…

Mami almost wished she hadn't found it so intriguing, but she was already transferring the coordinates from her computer screen to her tablet, grabbing her jacket on the way out. There was a chance that this would lead to nothing, but given her informant's reputation and their previous history? She doubted it.

Before, Mami had just figured like everyone else that there was nothing she could do about the war and Avalon's involvement.

Clearly she had some research to do.

It would be hard to explain to Homura and Kyouko why she had to go on another business trip so suddenly, but Mami was sure that she could come up with something. This was the first time in a long time that she felt like she was doing something meaningful, after all.

As if to agree with her decision, the tablet happily chirped as Mami exited the cafe, looking around the night scene of the UNSC main landing strip. The space station was renowned for being the safest place in the Sol System, but it had its fair share of vagabonds, dealers, and working girls. At least the alleyways gave them all a place to do business without encroaching on the postcard worthy view of the main station.

"Um… excuse me?"

It was the soft voice that got Mami's attention first, her head dipping to the side to look at the owner. A small pink-haired girl, all bright-eyed and hesitant. She probably had a lot of trouble staying out of trouble around these parts, Mami absentmindedly thought.

Mami flashed her a quick smile. "Can I help you?"

Her cheeks flushed, the girl timidly asked, "Are you Tomoe Mami?"

Mami blinked. Who was this? "Depends on who you are," she said. "If you're trying to sell me something, I'm not really interested-"

"No, no!" the flushed pinkette hurried waved her arms to dispel any misconceptions. "That's not it at all. Someone told me to find you, and that you would help me."

Mami blinked. "You know who I am?"

"My name is Madoka," the girl started, and Mami clasped the offered handshake in a hand of her own. Despite how she looked unsure a few moments before, there was a suddenly a spark of something more determined in Madoka's eyes.

"Tomoe Mami, but you already know that."

Madoka nodded. "I was told by my mother to find you. That you'd take me in as a vagabond from Earth."

Mami sucked in a breath.

_Well, shit._

* * *

**A/N: **I'm a little interested to see how far I can take this AU, especially because I'm pretty interested in Sci-Fi stuff. I hope you're enjoying it as much as I have fun writing it!


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